Dark Horse Ladybug
by Iscreamer1
Summary: What if Miraculous Ladybug took place in the Dark Horse Comics universe? Ladybug and Cat Noir are aided by Hellboy and the Mask in most of their adventures with some others like Timecop, Barb Wire and Ghost making separate guest appearances. *on hold due to lack of interest*
1. The Bubbler (Bring Back the Adults)

_In the daytime, I'm Marinette. Just a normal girl with a normal life…but there is something about me that no one knows yet, because I have a secret._

Paris, France.

The city of light was now the city of day. The sun was shining through the 21st arrondissement at eight in the morning, and in a three story house that also served as a bakery on 48 rue Caulaincourt, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was sleeping in with a cute little roly-poly pink skinned kwami by the name of Tikki, a symbol of good luck sleeping on her abdomen.

Marinette had hair that matched the dark shades of a blueberry, with ice blue eyes that seemed to fit with whatever moment of panic or fright she had to freeze in order to expunge her positive, content emotions. A half-French, half-Chinese girl of thirteen to fifteen, she wore a dark gray overshirt with sleeves and a collar that was white with pink polka dots and outlined with black. Underneath, she wore a white t-shirt with a black collar and sleeve lines and a florid design below the collar with black leaves and pink flowers. For the bottom half, she had pink jeans and light pink dress shoes with dark red soles. Right now, however, she was wearing her pajamas, consisting of a white shirt and pale pink jeans.

Happy, cheerful, and generous, Marinette was inspired to become a fashion designer amongst a new generation of fashionistas that Paris was popular for, inspired by Hollywood costume designers like Erté, Howard Shoup, Robert Edmond Jones, Walter Plunkett, Gwen Wakeling and Deborah Lynn Scott. She loved her parents, she loved her friends and most of all, she believed that her one true love was a model—specifically, a boy close to her age named Adrien Agreste.

Adrien Agreste lived in a glorious art deco mansion in Rue Augereau (or at least the interior was like that for the exterior was in the style of Napoleon III). His attractive blonde hair, green eyes and personality of a charismatic gentleman became a source of curiosity to Marinette that grew into a relationship…of unrequited love. Marinette while kind and courteous, was clumsy and diffident while struggling with her self-confidence and self-esteem and when she was about a mile radius from Adrien, she would collapse into a nervous breakdown, or in slang, "stepped on a nerve". It was also because of her shyness that she felt like a foil to her classmate and rival Chloé Bourgeois, the richest and meanest girl in the county who had known Adrien since she was seven and innocent before being spoiled by her father, the mayor. In the eyes of Adrien, Chloé was just a friend. But in the eyes of Marinette, she was a world class bitch who did not deserve a boy like Adrien.

Anyway, in her bed located on the top floor with the rest of her room, she was still dozing when Tikki woke up in a more natural way. Marinette woke up to the sound of her Blackberry tablet phone, lifted her upper body with both hands and found herself falling down the stars shouting, " _Bon anniversaire!_ "

After lifting herself up, Marinette remembered her position and found the direction of her computer. She spun in her dark pink swivel chair, arms raised and lowered them when her right index finger pressed the spacebar on her monitor and there came the background of her desktop. A five picture collage of Adrien at his best: happy, emo and serious.

"Happy birthday, Adrien!" she swooned.

She gave the monitor as kiss as in his own bathroom, Adrien was brushing his teeth. His toothbrush reached into his right wisdom tooth, when a five inch cat like kwami named Plagg came in with a quarter sized piece of carambert cheese rapped in a red ribbon. Not everyone had a kwami as a pet, but they only came to special people who were destined to become the protectors of the innocent, specifically superheroes, making Adrien the perfect candidate to take on the secret identity of Cat Noir, which only lasted for at least a few hours before he would go back to normal.

Being rich with the fame of a superstar model whose face appeared on various posters, magazines, advertisement and products was not a piece of cake for Adrien, who often compared his life with that of Clara Sesemann from Johanna Spyri's _Heidi_ (minus the fact that he was not wheelchair bound), which made his father Gabriel similar to that of Herr Sessemann, a rich widower who always away on business in Paris (coincidently where Adrien lived) and his manager Nathalie Sancoeur to that of Fräulein Rottenmeier, the strict châtelaine of the Sesemann household who saw Heidi as nothing more than a clumsy country claude, but genuinely cared for Clara even if she did not show it. In fact, Nathalie was cold and distant, with dark hair, glasses, a red turtle neck sweater and a black suit that represented the hidden darkness of her external beauty.

Anyway, Adrien felt like he had two loves in his life, Marinette from afar and the mysterious Ladybug, whom he had known for almost a year. When Plagg presented the cheese, he looked for a moment pleased with his present before a pungent odor filled the bathroom and swooped into his lungs.

"Oh, Plagg!" he shouted in annoyance rather than enthusiasm. "Get that smelly cheese away!"

He did so by covering his nose with both hands. Plagg, generous and grateful in service of his master, flicked the camembert into the air and it landed into his open mouth.

Back in the bakery, Marinette, now dressed and ready to go, was walking her way down the staircase. She caught a glimpse of her mother sipping a strong cup of oolong tea. The "eyes in the back of her head" could tell that her daughter had arrived.

"Marinette," she said, stopping her daughter dead in her tracks. "Please clean your room right after you come from school."

Marinette gasped with forgetfulness and dismay.

"Mom, it's Friday! I promised to hang out with Alya."

Sabine Cheng turned to face her, still smiling as she went on. Her hair was the same color as Marinette's, yet she had the typical Asian features of a woman with no unmistakable signs that she was an authentic Chinese female.

"Okay, then, I'll clean your room. Just don't get mad if I happen to stumble across your secrets, like your email or diary."

Marinette knew that this was blackmail whenever her mother brought up such subjects like this. She had to defend herself with uncharacteristically refined courage.

"All right! I got it. I'll clean my room."

She ran over, holding a mauve piece of paper with a rose colored ribbon, both in the shape of an envelope and kissed her on the edge of her nose.

"Have fun in school!" Sabine called back when Marinette reached the door. She did not happen to notice that the mauve envelope was a present for Adrien until Marinette flubbed her farewell, but she was unaware of this.

"Happy birth- I mean, see you later, Mom!"

She slammed the door shut. Sabine blinked her eyes, pondering Marinette's first two words.

"Happy birthday?"

 _My birthday isn't until next month._

But then she smiled, sipping the rest of her tea when she remembered how generous her daughter had grown up to become.

 _Such a sweet girl._

On her way to the school, Marinette took no notice when she passed a red skinned boxer with two stumps on his forehead, a tail, cloven hooves for feet, an over-sized right hand made of stone and a wardrobe of a black shirt and a tan trenchcoat. He called himself Hellboy, who seemed gruff but had a strong sense of humor.

Hellboy came from the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, who had once defeated the forces of Baba Yaga in the past and had been looking forward to a retirement in Paris that was unfortunately cut short by the arrival of the mysterious Ladybug. Kind as he was despite his background as a devil, he had some regular interactions with humans and oddities alike and none of them found his appearance to be strange or out of the ordinary, and if they did they always kept it to themselves. He was just going out for a stroll when Marinette came his way.

"Careful, you don't slip!" he shouted after her.

Not hearing a response, Hellboy continued on his way, a bit satisfied under the belief that Marinette had heard him.

 _So rude._

Adrien was having tea and crumpets for breakfast at the end of the table in the black and white dining room, it was his thirteenth birthday and it seemed that it would be a rather quiet occasion with only his father and assistant for company. He ate and drank slow, lacking the energy to feel enthusiastic at all times. The table was made of mahogany and comprised of twelve seats, enough to hold a formal dinner, but what Adrien really wanted was a grand, lavish, Jay Gatsby-style party.

 _What'll I do with myself this afternoon and the day after that, and the next 30 years?_ He thought, remembering Daisy Buchannan's complaint about all of the boring moments in her rich, haughty life. Perhaps then, as Adrien once assumed when his mother was still in the house and supposedly died from being hit by a car, happiness lied not so much in achieving the state of happiness but rather in pursuing it and Adrien wanted to pursue that happiness with his life as a superhero in Lurex fabric.

Nathalie came in with her iPad, presenting it to Adrien.

"Your schedule for today, sir," was all she said, and she was just about to leave before Adrien verbally stopped her.

"Nathalie? Did my father say anything about a birthday party?"

Nathalie turned her head back and looked over her right shoulder, unafraid to give her employer's son the bad news.

"Now you know how your father's personality is. He doesn't think would be a good idea."

"I see," Adrien frowned, his eyes fixed on the tablet.

"Happy Birthday," Nathalie said softly and she left the room with almost inaudible footsteps.

So Adrien spent the rest of the day, completely mute, or at least not speaking too much. Perhaps it had something to do with the number thirteen being an unlucky integer. Still he tried to keep up with his studies at Collège Françoise Dupont the public secondary school, ignoring the rest of his peers at lunch, chemistry and literature. His friend, Nino, an Indian with a red cap, indigo t-shirt, glasses and a passion for bubbles, was of little help and by the time school was out, his reply to the news was.

"Your father is too harsh. He must've wanted birthday parties as a kid."

"My dad probably didn't have parties then either," Adrien sighed with grief. "I shouldn't have hoped."

Nino wrapped a "swaggy best friend" type of right arm around Adrien's neckline.

"But it's your birthday! You should pester him, friend!"

Alya, who was also a bespectacled Indian from the island of Réunion. She and Marinette had been witnessing their conversation from behind the right hand bannister of the stairway, with the latter hiding her face behind the violet colored present.

"You can do this!" she pestered.

"Yes I can!" Marinette muttered, gritting her teeth with a prodigious amount of ardor.

"I don't know if I have the courage to ask him," Adrien resumed to Nino.

"If you can't do it," the prestigious Indian replied. "Maybe I could persuade him."

Adrien looked down again, not noticing Marinette from the bushes.

"I'm fine, Nino. It'll be useless even if you met him. He's not gonna change his mind, no matter what you say."

Marinette ducked behind the bannister, visibly admitting defeat.

"What do I do?! I can't do it!"

Alya made a mental moan, placed her right hand against her forehead for balance and placed both hands on her hips. Her voice turned from formal to ghetto.

"Oh no, you don't girl! You were so determined this morning! Now all you have to do is let it go!"

Marinette wasn't sure if Alya was referring to the present or the weight of the situation grounding her to a small, timid girl with no power over control of the world. Then Alya, after seven seconds of silence, added in return.

"Just give to him and go."

She held back her muscles and thrusted Marinette to Adrien and Nino. Marinette's upper body was eighty degrees downwards, holding the present with her hands forward when she noticed the two boys and placed the gift behind her back. An instantaneous amount of high anxiety coursed through her blood stream and her central nervous system, causing her to stutter.

"Hi."

She greeted him with her left hand for a split second before putting it behind her back with the other.

"Hi," Adrien greeted with his own, yet unsure about what Marinette was trying to say.

As their conversation began to spark, who spy on them but Chloé her best friend Sabrina, a mousey ginger haired girl with a black bowtie, a pine green and purple diamond checkered vest with an ice blue pair of shorts. She waited on Chloé hand and foot and obeyed her every command like a dedicated friend…or a servant. Chloé was in shock when she saw Adrien talking to Marinette. It because of the blueberry headed girl's shyness and scatter brained behavior that made Chloé perceive Marinette as a "retarded fool" along with their competition for Adrien himself. She turned back to Sabrina looking disgusted.

"Wait! Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing? Could it be that today is Adrien's birthday?"

Sabrina looked over her iPhone, checking the calendar app for conformation, she said quietly.

"Yes."

But Chloé was more peeved than surprised, but she had a little bit of both. She growled, gritting her teeth with fury.

"Must I do everything myself?! Why are you so fucking useless!?"

She stormed out before Sabrina could respond. Marinette was still trying to impress Adrien with her gift, unwittingly mixing her words around.

"Just…give…gift a made for you. I mean made a gift for you!"

At last, Chloé reached her point of impatience. She launched her right hand, propelling Marinette back to where she started from. Then she clasped her hands together, pressing them against her right cheek while lifting the same foot on that side like a swan…a very dainty swan with a heart of black.

"Happy birthday, Adrien!" she said in the most sweetest voice she could muster. Then she ran up and kissed Adrien's left cheek. Adrien tried to turn away as Chloé broke through his personal boundary, knowing that Marinette would never try to be this rude. But as much as he liked to compare the two girls, he always gave them his best wishes in return.

"Thanks, Chloé," was his reply after her glossy lips left his skin.

Chloé moved her arms to Adrien's shoulders and asked.

"Did you get my present?"

"No," was all he said.

"WHAT?!" Chloé acted surprised. She removed herself from Adrien, continuing to rant over a tall tale. "Oh, that dammed mailman! Did he have to go back and get a partner because the package was too heavy? It's been such a long time since I sent it!"

Switching back to content, Chloé placed her hands back on Adrien's shoulders in flirtatious manner and left before reminding him.

"Wait for my present. It'll be there within today."

She kissed his left cheek again and left back up the stairs. Nino and Adrien watched her go, the latter wondering about his "gift", and mentally comparing it with Marinette's.

 _At least she's got something for me. But don't know if I should believe her or not._

"What are you doing?" Alya said to Marinette hiding her face with the present. "Get your ass back out there! It'll be a waste if you give up now!"

At the third sentence, Marinette revealed herself. She started to think about her next objective while Sabrina met Chloé from her conversation with Adrien.

"What's the present?" she asked.

"I don't know!" shouted Chloé pointing a right finger of accusation at her. "You sent the gift. A surprising one at that."

She moved the finger up to her nostrils, forcing Sabrina to lean back by five degrees.

"You know what happens if it arrives late, right?"

"Yes," Sabrina nodded. "I'll probably get punished for it."

Before she could even mention the exact details of her punishment, Chloé disappeared into the school. Back behind the bannister, Alya's left fist nudged Marinette's right shoulder, still encouraging her to continue.

"Hurry! Give it to him!"

Marinette, now motivated and full of energy, stood up to see a white Cadillac limousine pulling up in front of the steps—Adrien's limo. This only disappointed him further with his—business.

"Guess I'll be leaving for another photoshoot now," he said solemnly to Nino.

And with that, the poor little rich boy walked into the back seat. His chauffeur, a man with the strength and build of a civilized gorilla, stared all the way down the street and hit the gas pedal, driving off and leaving Marinette in another state of disappointment.

"Why do my words not talk itself?" she felt like she was the most pathetic girl in all of France. She could have run after the limo, but it would have taken all the strength out of her legs if she dared to try.

"You mean why can't you talk freely?" asked Alya.

"Yeah that's it."

Nino looked over at the two girls. He too had his own crush for Alya, but had to take it slow. He turned away and said to himself.

"Look like I'll need to pay a visit and negotiate with Adrien's father in person."

Then he struck off on foot down the long avenue, Marinette and Alya followed him at a distance. However, the girls came to the mansion first by way of a bus and outside the front gate, Marinette had studying the oddly rectangular black mailbox with a golden frame near the edge. She pressed her hands against it, hoping for it to open.

"It won't budge!"

Alya directed her left thumb to the communicator looking square beside her.

"There's a thing called a doorbell, you know."

"Stop joking!" Marinette replied pompously. "What Adrien picks up-"

She threw herself into a panic when Alya pushed the button and the doorbell resonated. A red eyed camera came out of the wall, peering down at Marinette against her personal border.

"Yes?" asked a low female voice from the camera.

Marinette closed her eyes, waving with her left hand nervously.

" _Bonjour!_ I'm Adrien's classmate."

She opened her eyes at that sentence, afterwards placing the present directly in front of the camera's eye.

"Did I say it was a gift?" she asked putting the present down.

Marinette beamed with hope and prayed that the camera acknowledged her.

"Drop it here and leave," the voice replied.

The slot opened and Marinette tediously placed the present into it before the mailbox had a chance to devour her fingernails.

"Thank you so much!" the girl beamed.

And with that the camera went back behind the wall. Marinette turned to leave, accomplished and satisfied with her completion.

"I wonder if he's going to like it!" she squealed.

"Did you sign it?"

 _Merde!_ Marinette's eyes bulged and she froze as if every nerve in her internal system snapped and broke free.

"I can't believe you…" Alya placed her left fingers onto her forehead.

All Marinette could do was scream at the top her lungs to the heavens above her.

" _GOD WHY DON'T YOU JUST KILL ME?!_ "

Across the street in the Saint Aubin apartments, lived a brown haired "nice guy" of average complexion and weight named Stanley Ipkiss, whose day job was a clerk at the Banque de France, headquartered in the Hôtel de Toulouse. Apart from a previous position held within the Agreste family, he found no other company than his pet beagle Milo, the other tenants as well as his manager and landlady Agnes Peenman, a crabby old dame who had a rule for everything. She insisted on neatness, preferred peace and quiet and would not allow anyone to think too loud. In a nutshell, Mrs. Peenman had no use for fun and when Adrien came over to visit, she had been smashed out of her gourd after a previous night of too many margaritas and slurred, "Yeah, and what are you supposed to be? His nephew?"

For reasons unclear of his previous position and how he got fired, Stanley had been a great companion to Adrien and his parents before Plagg came into the pre-teen's life. When not watching animated shows, deep serious or insanely humorous, he would often spend his spare time spying on his "other-side" neighbors from a telescope, but he wasn't that nosy, not at least to Adrien whose room was just across the way from Stanley's window. When he heard Marinette's scream, he just cringed and laughed at her misfortune. Then he turned to the oval mirror on the left side of the room and peered into it like a vain king who had a magic sort of mirror that could only reply, "You are the handsomest one of all."

What he really said was.

"Girls and their boys, you can't live with 'em."

And said by placing a dark emerald mask close his heart.

After receiving the present, Nathalie returned to her office in the east wing of the mansion, a completely mint cream colored room with an Apple computer and an intercom for communication with Mr. Gabriel Agreste, who was just about appearing on the monitor when she sat down in her sleek white chair.

"Who was it Nathalie?"

"A friend of Adrien's who came to drop off a present, sir," she replied.

Gabriel, a man with platinum blonde hair turning murky, replied with strict attention in his voice.

"I assume you have also brought my present for him."

Nathalie was flustered. She always did this around Gabriel, showing the hidden emotions of her professional stature.

"You didn't mention anything," she confessed with a sad look in her eyes and her mouth.

"Why wouldn't I mention it?!"

The loud volumes that sprouted from his voice turned Nathalie into a mental wreck.

"I'm sorry, sir! I'll go prepare a present right away!"

After turning the monitor off, Nathalie covered her mouth with her hands and placed them in-between her head feeling stupid.

 _How could I possibly forget?_ She shouted to herself in annoyance.

But then she looked at Marinette's present and it made her feel as if her prayers to God had been answered in the form of salvation with this unsigned present. Sighing with relief on the winds of her breath, Nathalie heard the doorbell again and activated the camera. Through the monitor, she saw Nino smiling with his right hand raised.

"Hello!"

"Another friend of Adrien's I assume?"

"Yes, it's Nino!"

Nathalie remembered seeing Adrien hanging around an Indian near the school. Taking in his looks, she said quickly, "I'll see you to the door."

A minute and two seconds later, Nino was inside the main hall of the Agreste mansion with Nathalie by his left side. He was mesmerized by the glorious grand staircase of Bianco Sivec marble, his left hand opening the cap of his bubble bottle as he did by eight inches. Footsteps resonated in the room and there from the landing of the staircase was the one and only Gabriel Agreste, wearing a white suit with blood jeans.

"Adrien is not home right now," was all he said.

"Actually, I'm here to see _you_ ," Nino replied. "The father, er…sir."

He added the last word with circumstance, trying to sound as formal as he could be.

"Me?" Gabriel did not show any sign of a surprised reaction

"You see, I know you dislike parties," Nino explained. "But it's your son's birthday party, friend—I mean, sir!"

He placed his hands together, like any respectable Indian and his devotion to Hinduism.

"It's your son's wish!"

"That's enough," said Gabriel. "Drop the subject."

But Nino would not give up without any further persuasion.

"You're being too harsh. He's a great student and he works super hard! Don't you think maybe, just maybe, he actually _deserves_ a party?"

Gabriel held his right up, motioning him to stop.

"No, and that's final."

"But he works hard as a first page model! He studies fencing, Chinese, piano—"

Unbeknownst to any of them, Adrien came in just as Nino rambled with his second sentence. He stopped when he felt Adrien's left hand resting on his right shoulder. He turned around fast and saw his friend with his satchel hanging off of his right arm.

"Nino? When did you get here?"

Nino, with jubilation, pointed up his left index finger.

"What are good friends for?"

He turned back to Gabriel.

"Please give him a chance, friend—I mean, mister! _Please?_ "

Gabriel glared at Nino with a face of unusual anger at this boy of brown complexion and mannerisms. It was the face of a white supremacist.

"Student, listen closely. I will take care of my son," he said at last. Then he turned to Adrien.

"Also, how in the world did you befriend this hooligan and let him inside?"

He turned to Nino.

"And as for you, I have decided that you are bad influence on my son."

"Bad influence?" Nino was shocked. "What do you mean? I've done nothing wrong!"

"I don't do business with malauns."

The word "malaun" struck a hard blow to Nino's enthusiasm. This was a further disgrace to his ancestral nationality when Gabriel shouted.

"Get out of my house this instant!"

"Dad, he was just defending me on my behalf!" Adrien protested. "You're too cold to even talk with me."

And this was true, Adrien wasn't the type of boy who annoyed his own father while he worked. He was very reputable towards any member of his family and Gabriel's employees, especially Nathalie. Speaking of Nathalie, after Gabriel disappeared into his quarters, he stepped in front of the boys and said a short word.

"Farewell."

Nino stormed out of the house, a bit pissed you might say at Mr. Agreste's supposed chauvinism against Indians. It was a miracle that Adrien was not about to grow up to be just like him…yet.

"Nino, wait up!"

He placed his right hand on Nino's left shoulder. But the brown skinned pre-teen had a dark look in his eyes…the eyes of an adult hating child.

"I'm sorry about my father, he's a bit of frustrating person, isn't he?"

"I can already tell he is," Nino muttered in voice that Adrien couldn't. But sadly the fair-haired boy heard him.

"You shouldn't take offense to his words. I think it's just best to stay out of his way."

"WELL HE CALLED ME A MALAUN!" Nino let himself go, taking Adrien aback. "No matter what you say, I can't just sit back and let this go."

He crossed his arms and stomped furiously away from the mansion. Adrien lowered his eyes and his head, whispering.

"Thank you for trying though."

But his voice fell on Nino's deaf ears, and after walking for twenty minutes, he came to a green bench in the park on Avenue de Breteuil. For a second, he might have seen a man smoking a cigar across the way, and being a smart kid who knew the consequences of smoking, Nino opened the bottle and blew three bubbles out. He heard whining from none other than a four year old red head in an orange shirt and lime green shorts being dragged away by his father, who wore a Carolina blue suit.

"DADDY, PLEASE!"

"No, it's time to stop playing and go home. You have chores to do."

Even though the smaller boy seemed ten years younger than him, Nino thought about his own parents and all the times that to be strict with him on certain things like rules (which he obliged to) and chores (which made him feel dissatisfied). I made him cringe with frustration, letting it all out with his own choice of words.

"It's always the adults that are the problems."

The eye of a dark conservatory opened to cast light upon a foreboding figure in a dark lilac dress shirt with a black vest in the shape of an "X", a white x-shaped bow with a purple button in the center, violet dress pants, black rubber gloves and a silver-grey cowl. His name…Hawk Moth. As with the other superheroes, nobody knew where he came from. His observatory just popped out of the sky one day surrounded by a hundred lepidopterans, more popularly known as moths or butterflies. He opened both eyes to the sunlight casting its positive spell that would balance the negative thoughts he had in mind.

"You want to help your friend through any means, but you don't have any power to do so."

Hawk Moth could sense negative emotions from a hundred square miles, though he often limited his senses down to the city of Paris herself. He like to prey on fresh anger, resentment and sadness and he liked it that way, for it would give him more opportunities before his future victims had a chance to calm down. When the eye of the observatory opened all the way, the butterflies flew around like snowflakes falling in reverse. He looked down with closed eyes pulling every sent of anger into his nostrils.

"Ah, it's frustrating. Very frustrating. So frustrating that no matter how hard you try to endure, that feeling keeps coming back."

He opened his left hand, summoning a butterfly to rest on his palm. When landed, Hawk Moth covered the butterfly with his right hand (very carefully so as not to crush her), and five streams of black particles came out of nowhere, spilling in-between the fingers and grew into bigger blobs before they disappeared. The butterfly was now black with light purple cracks and veins. Hawk Moth removed his right hand, setting the butterfly free and waved his cane of gold and oak as a farewell parting.

"Fly away, my akuma! Go to your host!"

The butterfly flew through the window in the square middle of three rings, out into the open world over a beautiful city that would soon be purged into a dark world of anger, corruption, arrogance, vice, sin and pure evil.

Nino was still blowing bubbles and when it looked like he run out the "akumatized" butterfly morphed into the center of the bottle and the energy emitting from the bottle struck total amounts of negative emotions into his fiber, creating the purple light of a mask in the shape of a butterfly. Gritting his teeth with this newly found rage burning through his stomach and the rest of his body, a voice rung into Nino's head.

"I am Hawk Moth, the butterfly. You are now my Bubbler. Shall we take care of those goddamned adults who have your lives so miserable? All you have to do is steal Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous Stones in return. Are you up for this?"

With no free control over his mind, the brainwashed Nino obliged in an uncharacteristically refined voice of demonic proprieties.

"Of course, Master Hawk Moth!"

He stood up and a black liquid with royal purple shades covered his right hand. It spread to his chest until Nino was lost from head to toe in this black substance of corruption. It rocketed him from the park and pulled him down on the roof of an apartment building two blocks away. After a second, Nino came out of the liquid, eyes closed and kneeling on his right leg looking like a cartoonish doodle.

His face had light blue skin, reddish-brown eyes, and black circles around his eyes where the glasses would be, along with a black spot above his left eye and a black spot below his right eye. His clothes were now a bright red, blue and yellow body suit, with many parts of the suit being rounded like attached bubbles. Around his head, he had a red helmet that featured a red antenna on top with a matching sphere. Also, he wore black skin-tight boots, black elbow-length gloves with pink knuckles, and black pants. On his chest was a black and white circle resembling an eye with two dark gray tubes attached. The tubes connected to his red, yellow, and blue bubble container, where the bubble wand would be. The bubble wand had a blue handle and a yellow head with a long, oval hole. He had become…

The Bubbler.

"If there are no adults," he added with sadistic glee, "all kids will be free!"

He stood up and stretched his arms.

"Just thinking about it makes me feel excited!"

His right hand reached for the bubble wand and he spun it once, shouting in the voice of a liberal.

"FOR FREEDOM!"

And he rocketed away from the building, leaving a trail of bubbles in his wake. The Bubbler ricocheted off the middle arch of Notre Dame, flew over the Champs-Élysées and soared down the 8th arrondissement, his first victim being the father of the four year old red head. And speaking of red, Hellboy had been taking a stroll down that very same street, nodding and greeting his fellow Parisians as he went by. He noticed a woman in a black and white zebra striped dress being contained by a large 4:3 scale bubble with a purple wave turning green upon impact and was lifted into the air. Seeing this along with the man in the suit, pedestrians made a quick retreat for cover, but most of them were no match for the bubbles. Some took cover in their houses, some hid under their cars and Hellboy ducked into an alleyway when a bubble took big to enter, faded into existence with a single "pop!"

"What the hell is going on here?" he murmured.

And that he was going to find out for himself.

Marinette was in the kitchen, forming her soybeans in the shape of a heart that symbolized her love for Adrien. An allegory for anorexia, she couldn't even bear to take a bite out of the tuna sandwich her mother made for her.

"I wonder if Adrien opened my present by now."

Sabine, who had unwisely chosen to open the windows, turned back and asked, still smiling as any mother would do.

"What's that about a present, Marinette?"

And like any other teenager who did not feel like expressing his or her personal moments and relationships, Marinette told a fib.

"I was saying that I wanted to eat lunch quickly and go back to school."

Sabine chuckled at this joke and would have laughed a lot harder had it not been for the bubble that consumed her a moment later. Marinette dropped her jaw as the light waves around the bubble turned from purple to light lime green, taking her mother along with it. She ran to the balcony and saw her father being carried off as well…towards an army of adults from twenty one to ninety five being lifted via bubbles into the outer stratosphere. Sabine tried hard to break the bubble, pounding her left fist against it, but the bubble's wall was too thick (and even if she did, she might have broken her neck upon falling to the ground hard.) Tikki came from Marinette's rear right pocket and stared in horror.

"Your parents! We have to get them down!"

"I would, but I am not equipped with a parachute," Marinette said to Tikki as though it were obvious.

"Then we must find the source," Tikki replied. "Hawk Moth must have unleashed another Akuma."

Marinette looked back at the city known for its populace of 2.244 million people. She was determined, hard faced and ready to face the odds.

"We have to find out who's the victim this time, pronto!"

She brushed her hair back, revealing her luscious red round earrings.

"Tikki! Spots on!"

Five black spots covered her left earring, followed by her right when Tikki morphed into the earrings. Marinette placed her hands around her eyes, creating a domino mask of red with black spots. The tips of her pony tails gained red streaks and ten feet long red streamers flowing from her hair. Extending the rest of her body, Marinette gained a leather body suit of red with black round spots…like a ladybug, and that was who she was.

The Miraculous Ladybug.

Twirling around, lifting her left leg and placing it back to the ground, Ladybug was equipped with a yo-yo that could for many purposes: communication, purifying of akumas and mostly, as a weapon. She ran down to the bakery, spotting a male of nineteen with a boy and girl of matching ages, six to be exact. They looked up in fright at the face of the Bubbler reflected in a garden of round pink bubbles that would give Glinda the Good Witch of the South a bad name of disgrace. He announced his plans like a hipster in that sort of voice.

"Hey, hey, hey! Will there be another fine day as this, friends? Don't you feel like all the adults disappearing is good? No more homework or chores! It's an all you can play fiesta! It's a present from me, Bubbler!"

A gunshot rung through a bubble in the center of the fizzy clouds, the left gun of Hellboy, who expressed the face of an emotionless soldier.

"Nobody messes with us adults, right Ladybug."

Ladybug said nothing. She just nodded and lowered herself to the preschool siblings.

"Don't worry, Hellboy and I will bring your parents back soon."

She turned to the young man.

"Take care of your siblings in the meantime!"

All three cheered her and her unusual sidekick on.

"Go Ladybug!"

If poor Adrien wasn't frustrated enough with a racist father and an indifferent secretary, he would have shared the fate as Neil Perry of _Dead Poets Society_ fame, but wiser and with more courage to stand up to his own father and tell him off just so he could lead a wild life that only destitute children get when they spend most of their time wishing they could be as rich as he was. He sat alone in the dining room after finishing a miniscule meal of a chicken breast and a glass of milk, wiping his mouth with a long napkin as he reflected on his quiet thirteenth birthday. The quietest birthday of his whole life. His words were acerbic.

"Wow. I'm totally feeling the birthday mood. Yay."

He walked out with his satchel, feeling lethargic as he walked into the hall. But as he stood there in the center of the room, it felt surprisingly empty.

"Nathalie? Dad?"

No answer came, it was bizarre…but not bizarre to Adrien Agreste, who just shrugged his shoulders and walked to the door. When he was outside he was startled to hear an uproar of cheers from his classmates, just standing there outside for no good reason…other than his birthday perhaps.

Chloé, Sabrina, Alya, Alix Kubdel, Kim, Rose, Juleka, Ivan, Max, Nathanaël and Mylène Haprèle were all standing in front of him shouting "Happy Birthday!" in multiple languages of French, English, Chinese and Korean.

"Hey yo, birthday boy over there!" shouted a voice from above.

Adrien could tell by his tone of voice that it was Nino…looking like a freakishly drawn oddity made from a cartoon sketch standing on a bubble.

"Your father's not here," he said as he looked down upon his guests. "If the cat's not around, then the mouse is the king."

Adrien's suspicions were confirmed.

"Nino?!"

"I, Bubbler, have personally gathered all of your friends for one thing…"

The colorful character raised his right arm in the air like he didn't care.

"We're going to celebrate your birthday!"

The crowd of teens and tweens cheered as Bubbler jumped off the bubble and landed on a DJ booth on a black stage with two subwoofers and six floodlights. He raised his hands in the air with everlasting energy and aggressiveness.

"So who's ready to par-tay?!"

"WE ARE!"

The kids shouted with joy and cheer, ready to have the party of their lives, hosted by this strange Messiah who came out of nowhere. Then scratching the record on with four strokes of his right fingertips, the song _Lola_ by the pop band Superbus began to play at a slightly sped up tempo. In a mixture of shock, dismay, confusion and an entrée of surprising reactions, Adrien, unsure of what to make of the situation, ran back into the house.

The noise of the music could hear all the way across the street. While in his apartment, Stanley was sure to have seen Mrs. Peenman taking a walk outside when she was scooped up by a bubble. Since the windows were closed in the apartments, they did not capture the other tenants. Safe and sound in his room, he knew that trouble down blew and up above had brewing in the form of the Bubbler.

"Well, that takes care of her," he said to himself and to his dog. "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna let the other adults get lost in space."

He picked up the emerald green mask he had been toying with for the last hour and a half.

"And I know who to catch the culprit."

He slapped the mask on, letting it cover the entirety of his head and spin wildly around in all directions and when he stopped, his head was a shiny mint green. He now wore a zoot suit that was as yellow as a taxicab with a tie that matched the checker flags seen on the sides of a Checker taxi. His shoes were black and white oxfords and he uttered the first words that had been spoken on his first day as…the Mask.

"S-s-s-smokin!"

He rushed to the window. Down below was the courtyard of the Agreste mansion, where he could see DJ Bubbler entertaining his guests, all comprising of Collège Françoise Dupont alumni.

"It's party time!" he said to his near visible reflection in the window. "P-A-R-T- _why?_ Because I gotta, that's why! Twenty-three skidoo!"

He headed for the door and sped his way out. When he reached the gate, he stopped on the left side of the entrance, hiding from this new enemy while getting a closer inspection from his vantage point.

"What's with your dancing?!" The Bubbler shouted while trying to keep a straight smile. "You should have fun at a party!"

And so it appeared. Mylène was the first to look tired after a minute of dancing. This was followed by Rose whose body was growing weak, but the Bubbler was in no mood for rest and relaxation.

"Dance harder! Otherwise you might end up flying away like the adults."

He took out his wand and shot three fireworks that exploded into bubbles, catching the attention of Hawk Moth in his observatory. He laughed hard as he predicted the outcomes.

"Perfect. Now that the Mask has arrived, all that's left is for Ladybug, Cat Noir and Hellboy to appear. Then this battle between good and evil will have finally reached its end."

Back in his room, featuring a widescreen TV, three computer monitors, two arcade classics and an upstairs library, Adrien closed the door and looked at his silver ring, which possibly to him from his mother. Plagg appeared behind his right shoulder.

"What's the matter?" the squishy kwami asked. "Enjoy the moment! This is the party you have been longing for!"

"Nino has been turned into an Akuma!" Adrien reasoned. "I have to save him!"

But Plagg, for such a voice of reason that he sounded to be, had other statements.

"There's no better chance than this. Let's go! Have some fun while your father's not around. Then, we can save Nino and capture the Akuma."

Adrien looked away. He didn't know if Plagg was truly a Faustian devil that would lead him down the path of fame with terrible consequences, but he knew that the kwami was right about one thing: He had to have some fun in his as both a cat and himself. At last, he spoke to his conscious.

"I guess you're right. If not today, when will I get another chance to do whatever I want?"

He headed out the door, with Plagg going back into Adrien's right vest pocket.

Spotting the fireworks, Ladybug and Hellboy raced their way to the Agreste manor, getting closer as the sound of the fireworks grew louder.

"I won't forgive you, Bubbler!" she whispered, standing from a condo with her fists at the level of her mouth.

At the courtyard as the fireworks continued, Adrien was dancing like never before, cheering with hands raised and eyes closed, but the other kids were just about exhausted. He walked over to Rose, her eyes at half-mast.

"Hey there! How's the party? It's fun, yeah? It's my first time at one!"

"Sure…"

Rose smiled put both of her thumbs up as a sign of pleasure. But Adrien was quick to see that she was becoming helpless, mindless, doll with no personality other than walking the earth like a zombie. The same went for the faces of the other kids.

When Adrien wanted a Gatsby styled party, what he really meant were kids and adults from all over Paris as well to have them be more excited and euphoric. It was starting to feel like a small crowd being forced into serfdom. Even the Mask was getting bored, he just yawned and waited, knowing that he needed Ladybug to purify the Akuma and to give Hellboy the opportunity of kicking the Bubbler's ass. Chloé and Sabrina noticed this too, and, true to Bubbler's word, the blond haired queen bee ushered her gingered haired friend to the stage.

"D-Do you have any slower songs?" Sabrina stuttered.

The Bubbler looked at her with suspicion in his eyes.

"Isn't it a little early for that?"

Chloé walked up to Sabrina's shoulders and pushed her down, again having to do everything herself.

"It's for Adrien," she uttered sweetly. "Slow songs are a first for him."

She clamped her hands against her right cheek and fluttered her eyelashes, successfully capturing Bubbler's attention.

"Whoo. I've got just the song."

He placed a record on the left disk and a French cover of George Michael's _I'm Never Gonna Dance Again_ blasted through the subwoofers. The kids took their turn to waltz, leaving Adrien and Chloé to themselves. For once, he had wished that Marinette was here with him.

"Is it just me does everyone else seem to be acting weird?"

Chloé, who had been listening but didn't seem to care at all, grasped his left hand and dragged him to the center before he had time to notice.

"That doesn't really matter! Let's dance."

At last, Ladybug and Hellboy found Mask near the entrance, who was now relived and re-motivated upon seeing the two in red.

"What took you so long?" he greeted the rouge duo in a typical imitation of Humphrey Bogart.

"We didn't know where the Bubbler was until the fireworks showed up," Ladybug confessed.

"The best thing we can do now is head to the roof. If Bubbler spots us too soon, it might endanger the kids' lives," Hellboy suggested.

Ladybug jumped to the balcony on the same side and Mask stretched his right foot onto the roof, taking Hellboy by the hands as they landed quietly on the floor of the balcony. Ladybug looked over from the suicide barrier, squinting her eyes at the Bubbler removing the other record and then looking down to find Chloé resting the left side of her head against Adrien's chest. It enraged her to the bone a bit further when Chloé puckered her lips and prepared to smooch Adrien. But Adrien did not think that now was the best time. Cringing, he moved his head further back until Chloé gained the upper hand and pressed a pink glossy kiss on Adrien's right cheek.

"Hare dare you do that to Adrien, you minx!"

Even though a cardinal rule of superheroes is to never use one's powers for personal use or selfish purposes, she summoned her yo-yo, lifting it up into the air with her left hand.

"Lucky Charm!" she shouted.

The yo-yo poured a hundred and one hearts out of it, then swirled around into a round mass of ladybug wings, transforming it completely into a record with a red and black spotted label in the center. Ladybug was fortunate to catch it as she looked at the contents with surprise.

"A record disk?"

No matter how odd the objects appeared to be, they would always prove themselves useful in the event of an emergency. Hellboy read the label.

" _Hey Pachuco_ by Royal Crown Revue?"

"One of my favorites!"

The Mask nearly popped his eyes out as he said this…literally. He was able to bend his body into unrealistic shapes and proportions, even changing his wardrobe to reflect his current emotions and attitude. As the Bubbler searched through a colorful category of Adren's record collection of fifty albums, Mask daintily touched the disk with his right thumb and index fingers.

"May I do the honors?" he asked.

Ladybug let the disk go and the Mask took off like lightning. He stood from the top of the spotlights, grinning as always with the shout of a rock star that caught the attention of the kids…and the Bubbler.

"Let's rock this joint!"

He flung the disk like a Frisbee into the left player and ran quickly down into the stage before the Bubbler could stop him. As promised with the label, _Hey Pachuco_ began to play. It struck up an upbeat, big band tune of classic jazz that got the children moving faster than the first number.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" The Bubbler looked left and right, high and low in vain. In the meantime, Chloé was surprised, allowing Adrien to move away from her without a polite word. It was nothing more than a nervous chuckle.

"Now you're finished," Marinette saluted.

"It's dangerous for you too!" added the voice of Tikki.

But then she heard something else, the beeping of a sound that told her "danger!" A few more seconds and she would be back to her original state.

"Keep an eye out for the Mask and wait for me," Ladybug informed Hellboy.

"Got it, miss."

So she jumped down to the sidewalk, twirling and landing on her feet. Fortunately for her, there weren't too many citizens to expose her identity, so she called out.

"Transformation: Release!"

The last spot on her earrings disappeared, and in a pink ray that covered her from toe to head, she was back to the being the meek, pitiful and extremely shy Marinette. Tikki came into her open hands, yawning from lack of nutrition that had been spent on the Lucky Charm.

"Marinette…"

"Sorry, the situation was desperate!"

"Sure it was, because you were blinded by jealousy. Don't you know what happens when you use Lucky Charm? After a short period of time, you turn back into-"

"Myself," Marinette interrupted. "I know that. But Bubbler doesn't seem like he's going anywhere. There's still time to eat and replenish your energy. After recharging, we can go after him!"

Like any other organic life form, Tikki required food, not just for herself, but also for Marinette's alter-ego. The amount of energy from anything that was editable was likely to break down all the systems into creating Ladybug's limited powers.

So Marinette stuffed Tikki into her purse, then went into the courtyard. She was certain to have seen Hellboy still looking down from below. On her right was Mask under the stage, giving her the shushing gesture. Marinette wasn't sure if they knew about her life as Ladybug, but if they did, they were certain to have kept it to themselves. Fortunately on their part, neither of them knew, but they were suspicious.

She found a table of confectionaries (cakes, cheesecakes, fruit flavored sodas and cookies), and placed four chocolate chip cookies into the purse, allowing Tikki to devour them at a quick pace.

"That should do it," she said to herself. "All that is left is to find a safe place to transform."

But she was shocked to find Alya close by.

"Where were you? I was worried that something happened to you!"

The girls hugged with Marinette accepting the favor.

"Me too!" she replied loudly.

Alya moved four inches away from Marinette, briefing her.

"I just saw the Mask and Hellboy, Which means Ladybug and Cat Noir can't be too far behind and are going to save us at any minute. They always did in the past."

Marinette wanted to blush at the career she had been doing for the past year or so, yet most superheroes often kept their identities a secret for a reason.

"Before they do," Alya interrupted her thoughts. "Follow me. It involves Adrien's present."

Marinette sighed with getting the chance of signing her gift, but Tikki who bitten off a quarter scale bite of the fourth cookie, reminded her of the situation at hand.

"What about Bubbler?"

"I know! Just give me a moment!"

Hellboy continued craning his head over the partygoers. Marinette rushed into the mansion, following Alya. Marinette hoped to find the present before the party ended, but Alya, knowing a lot more about the Agreste manor, peeked her head through the door of Nathalie's office and Marinette poked her head under Alya's. Both girls saw the present still wrapped and lying there untouched for the last hour.

"Go ahead and sign it," Alya whispered.

And so she did, Marinette found a sticky note and a black aluminum pen, writing down the words "To Adrien, Love Marinette" in cursive.

Back in the courtyard, Mask was still hiding under the stage, though he peeked his eyes out to Ivan, a heavy set, but muscular young man of a black shirt, black cap and blond hair standing by the wall, sulking with his arms crossed. Bubbler approached him with an icy scowl.

"Yo, friend. Why aren't you out there dancing?" he asked furiously.

"Who cares?" Ivan glared back. "Mylène's dancing with Nathanaël."

"So what? You can find another dance partner."

"That is none of your business."

Ivan's tone went harsh, but the Bubbler's was a lot sadistic. He seethed with fury at Ivan's defiance.

"Then I'll make my business, fatass."

He pulled out the bubble wand, frightening the teen.

After finishing the note and stamping it onto the present, Marinette kissed the paper.

 _Mission accomplished!_

Tikki poked her head out of the purse.

"Now that you're done…let's transform while there's still a chance!"

"Not right now," she whispered. "Alya's outside!"

She turned to the door fast and shouted.

"Go ahead of me, I'll be right there!"

Placing her right hand on her heart, Marinette could hear Alya's footsteps leaving the manor. It was all becoming crystal clear to her when she Ivan floating away in a bubble of green. It was plain to see that should anyone remove the "y" and spell "party" backwards, it would spell _trap_. And anyone who defied the Bubbler would end up being trapped in a bubble that float into the reaches of outer space and successfully driving the bubble's victim insane. She had to be quick and save the guests and the adults before they were driven to suicide by clawing themselves to death.

"I should have listened," Marinette moaned to herself. "I stalled too long."

She watched the poor, defenseless Ivan being carried through the stratosphere and into the hemisphere where he be lost in the clouds of Heaven forever.

Meanwhile, Adrien had been given a chance on the stage with Bubbler, knowing that there still was some good within his friend.

"Hey everyone in Paris! Are you having fun?"

He held the microphone in his left hand high above his head and the only feedback from the mic was chorus of fatigued groans. They were met by a furious growl from the Bubbler who reached for his wand, so they turned into fake cheers. Mask and Hellboy wanted to pounce the bastard, but they could not without Ladybug's signal. Hellboy looked behind to find Lady and so did Adrien from afar when he jumped off the stage.

"Ladybug?" the recently-turned thirteen year old exclaimed.

Hellboy leaped from the balcony and raised his left fist in mid-air, then thrusted downwards towards the cables connecting to the subwoofers. It smashed into the power strip, disconnecting the wires as the strip crumbled. Mask came out of his hiding spot, zipping his way towards Ladybug and Hellboy on the balcony.

"It's a pity but party time's over, Bubbler!" she teased.

"Everyone was having fun," Bubbler snapped back. "But what's your freaking problem?"

Ladybug was offended.

"You made the adults disappear into the sky by trapping them in bubbles, and yet you ask me what my problem? On top of that, you forced these unwilling kids to party!"

And before Chloé could even rest her head on Adrien's left shoulder, the boy rushed back into the house.

"YOU RUINED MY PARTY!" Bubbler screamed.

Reaching for the wand, he fired two circling bubbles. Ladybug readying her yo-yo, using it as a shield, spinning it around at what might been the speed of light. At that speed the yo-yo acted as a shield and she deflected left and right. Both participants jumped and struck each other while Hellboy and Mask tried to escort the crowd to the front steps of the manor.

Back in his room, a wiser Adrien knew that maybe it was worth having a quiet party as usual. Plagg came out of his jacket.

"Plagg, I was too naïve."

Immediately, Plagg was sucked in against his will into the ring which turned back with the light green insignia of a feline paw. Adrien decorated his eyes with a jet black domino mask that made his eyes green, pitch black cat ears made of leather and a dark grey suit of lurex. Curling into a fetal position, he sprouted a silver staff with a twelve foot long leather belt for a tail. The suit was also fitted with a golden bell under his collar. He had become…Cat Noir.

"Waiting for me, bubble-face?"

Bubbler dodged a right jab from Hellboy, then another from the left by the Mask, who stretched his left arm past the right shoulder and was unable to stop Bubbler from sending another Glinda-pink bubble towards Ladybug. Ladybug fired off her yo-yo, yet the disk bounced off and that was when Cat Noir flew into the scene. He used his staff to collide with the disk, knocking it upwards.

"I came just it time didn't I?"

"You didn't need to show up," Ladybug said casually.

The yo-yo disk struck his crown as she said this.

"At least you can be thankful," Hellboy added.

The pink mask appeared over Bubbler's face. The voice of Hawk Moth was hissing in his head.

"Bring me the Miraculous Stones! I need their power…NOW!"

Unleashing a scream of rage, Bubbler spun madly around, creating a barrage of bubbles that forced Cat, Ladybug, Mask and Hellboy to duck and dodge, twirling their weapons as they did. Mask even used his fedora as a shield while Hellboy simply used his fists and his guns to wipe out the rest of the bubbles. But there were so many that Bubbler snapped his left fingers that turned them into raging green bubbles that stuck onto the quartet like parasites. Within ten seconds, they were trapped in a large emerald green bubble.

Bubbler held out his left hand in an offering gesture.

"Hand over the Miraculous Stones if you want out."

"Dream on, asshole!" Hellboy shouted back. He was obviously the most profane out of all four in the quartet. This only aggravated Bubbler, who held his left hand against his temple.

"Then you'll end up just like the adults," he said mournfully.

"Children need adults!" shouted Ladybug.

"As if," Bubbler scoffed. "Kids need freedom, fun and comfortable lives, and it's the adults who always get in their way."

The classmates watched in return, surprised and astounded by Ladybug's following words.

"But kids needs adults just to be safe! They are the ones looking after them with love and protection! How would you feel if you lost your own child to an accidental death?!"

"At least some adults do," muttered Adrien under the mask of Cat Noir. Then he shouted. "But, bring back the adults!"

"What he said," said Mask and Hellboy together.

But the Bubbler was not about to defy his _motus operandi_.

"No can do. But if you're so worried about the adults, why don't you float along with them?"

He charged before the quartet could react, and like kicking a baseball into the outfield, the bubble rocketed into the sky. It went on for a mile before it slowed down at a thousand feet. Hawk Moth watched the scene from his observatory, cross and dismayed with the actions of his new-found accomplice.

"What do you think you are doing, Bubbler?! I told you to steal the Mircaulous Stones!"

Cat was tapping his right foot at the wall, along with Hellboy punching the barrier with all his might. It wasn't until Mask pulled out a pin from his left vest pocket that the bubble successfully busted into non-existence and sent the heroes falling down towards the Eiffel Tower.

"Care to show me if you can land on all fours this time?" Ladybug asked Cat out of the blue.

"No thanks!" was his reply and with quick thinking, he reached for his platinum baton and flung it at the base of the tower. Seeing this, Ladybug used her yo-yo to wrap it around the baton. She grabbed Cat Noir's right hand with her left and Mask lifted his arms under Hellboy's pits, letting the green faced man transform the rest of his own body into a parachute.

"Brace for impact!" shouted Mask like falling pilot as he tried to decrease speed.

The two came safely down and Ladybug and Cat Noir, swinging from the yo-yo, landed under the tower.

"Whoo! How was my four feet landing?" he asked his allies.

The yo-yo somehow had pulled the baton down from the tower, landing in Ladybug's left hand. She tossed it back Cat.

"We have to destroy Bubbler's bubble wand. The Akuma is in there."

Based on previous experience, Ladybug, Cat, Mask and Hellboy always knew that an Akuma would always infect a personal item of its victim and would remain there until the object was split in two or partially destroyed.

"Then let's hurry," Hellboy reminded them.

And they ran back to the mansion.

Still hiding behind the balcony at the front of Adrien's mansion, the teens prayed and held their breaths as Bubbler looked hell-bent on finding them all.

"Where did you all go in the middle of my party?!"

"Sorry for breaking your bubble," said Ladybug from atop the entrance. "But it seems like everyone thinks your party is mediocre, Bubbler."

Tipped off by Alya, the crowd chanted.

"Ladybug! Ladybug! Ladybug! Ladybug!"

Bubbler growled harder than ever and when he turned, he felt no affection for his guests, if not total confusion by their betrayal.

"WHY DO YOU ALL HATE ME SO MUCH?!"

As he screamed for question, he fired off his bubbles. As quick as a flash, the kids were trapped in purple bubbles, and it seemed like the majority of Paris' population had been erased and were now floating in space, ready to break free and unfortunately die from lack of food and oxygen.

"Your precious friends are headed for outer space. You'll never see them again!"

And with that, Bubbler leapt away and so did the four heroes, which led them right back to the Eiffel Tower where they had just recently come from. Hanging from the middle of the tower, He fired bubbles straight down at the fearless four, dodging them as they made their way to the second stage. Once they landed, Cat Noir noticed the right index claw in his ring blinking five times then disappearing. The hour had passed and his time as Cat Noir was just about to expire.

"My transformation is about to wear off!" he shouted to Ladybug. "Pick up the pace!"

So Ladybug summoned her Lucky Charm again and the hearts that spun around the yo-yo transformed into a 1/12 scale wrench with dual ends.

"Your tech skills are going to help us?"

Hellboy and Mask would have chuckled at Cat's crack, but they had to wait for the appropriate to joke. Bubbler held one bubble in his right hand and used the wand to bat it over to Cat Noir, who fled up, up, up the tower like a professional climber (which he was). Even more professional than Philippe Petit when he walked in-between the high towers of Notre Dame in 1971. When he reached a higher piece above the second level, Cat Noir further castigated his former friend.

"Is that the best you can do?"

By then, Ladybug knew what to do. Her vision saw a pipe venting steam through a vent and it hit her when she realized the capability and purpose of the wrench. Mask and Hellboy ran from behind, pinning the Bubbler as Ladybug reached the pipe and pulled harder and harder until the pipe was released. The pressurized steam sent the pipe flinging wildly.

"Get ready, Cat Noir!" shouted Ladybug. "I'm counting on you!"

Cat swooped down and held the mad pipe while Bubbler released himself from Mask and Hellboy's clutches by means of summoning his inner strength, pushing the two back with his upper body. He jumped to a higher level and fired three more bubbles at Cat, but the force of the steam from the pipe sent each bubble flying off in three different directions: north, east and west. Taking out the wand became another opportunity for Ladybug to attack by whipping out her yo-yo, pulling it from Bubbler's grasp. The villain screamed in denial as his prized weapon taken away from him…like an adult taking away his child's favorite toy.

"NO WAY!"

Ladybug caught the wand and snapped in two between her left leg. The butterfly came from the bottom half of the wand.

"Come out evil Akuma! You're finished!"

Her right index finger slid over the disk, a light purple barrier splitting it into two doors. She swing it left and right by her feet and swung the yo-yo wildly behind her back.

"It's time to purify!"

At her request, the yo-yo's white light of redemption caught the butterfly and pulled it back to her left hand, catching it and opening the disk.

"Bye bye, pretty butterfly."

She waved back at the now-purified butterfly flying away, whether it be to freedom…or back to her master for another cycle of possessing and purifying. Then she threw wrench into the air, shouting the command that matched her name.

"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"

At the moment it was about a mile high into the sky, a pink cloud with a red body sparkled into a star, multiplying into pink stars. As Tikki's nature of good luck would have it, the damage done by the Bubbler had been restored: Sabine and Tom found themselves back outside the bakery still trapped in their bubbles for a split second before the popped and landed on the ground. Reunited at last, the husband and wife hugged each other for what seemed like an hour but was really a minute. Wracked with defeat and dismay, Bubbler fell to his knees sobbing…and the purple substance that possessed him turned him back into Nino. As a bonus, the purification completely erased his memories as the Bubbler so that he would never have to remember the awful fact that he once been a vice person consumed by darkness.

As they always did to culminate a mission, Ladybug and Cat bumped their fists together, in unison.

"Mission accomplished!"

Hellboy did the same with Mask, but the result prove to be more painful on Mask's part.

"What happened?" Nino asked.

The four decided not to tell and immediately went their separate ways. After getting down to the bottom, Cat Noir reverted back into Adrien Agreste, sighing with despair at how much liveliness had occurred over the last few hours.

 _Best birthday ever._

Back in his observatory, Hawk Moth gritted his teeth with anger, fury and distaste over his recent failure. There was, of course, a reason why he only sent one Akuma a day. Like the heroes, he had a limit to his powers. Sending out more than one Akuma and controlling them took up too much energy and would cause him to revert back to his normal form and loose control. He would just simply wait until the next opportunity to akumatize someone instead of sending out another one because he needed time to get his strength back. Now that his opportunity had been wasted, he was furious and pissed with so much negativity that came from his blood.

"They've slipped from my grasp, yet again. You will rue the day when I get my hands on those stones! I won't let you two get away with this!"

And the eye closed, shutting the observatory back into the darkness.

It was late afternoon when Nathalie wrote her correspondence for the day. Being trapped in a bubble for almost two hours had put her behind schedule, so she wrote fast and simple amounts of words to make up for the time that was lost. The intercom monitor revealed Gabriel, looking proper as ever.

"Nathalie, did he like the present?"

Nathalie beeped back, realizing her mistake.

"Ahh, that is-I'll go deliver it right now."

"Very well," Gabriel said and the monitor went into darkness. Nathlie found the present still lying on her desk, but noticed the tape from Marinette.

 _Where did this come from?_

Reading it, she considered about the source, until…

 _I can't let Mr. Agreste down._

Her left hand took the paper and crumpled it into the trash can. Then, she rushed right over to the dining room where Adrien aimlessly held a tumbler in his right hand. She took slower steps, walking professionally as she handed the present to Adrien.

"It's a birthday gift from your father," she explained.

Adrien looked at it. The colors of the wrapping and bow looked familiar, the same colors of the gift Marinette had attempted to give him, but he immediately brushed it off and made himself believe that his father was showing some compassion after his mother left.

"Thank you," he said before Nathalie turned away.

But then he said.

"Please tell my father that I said thanks."

"Certainly," Nathalie replied and she left the room.

Smiling, Adrien slowly pulled the wrapper off.

Back in his apartment, Stanley knew that everything would be the same…for a while. Out of all the adults who ending up being trapped by the bubbles, Mrs. Peenman was the most traumatized and it would be at least a week before she went back to her normal speed.

Hellboy was looking forward to a rest in the park, and Marinette could only pray that Adrien would get her present and be wearing it by tomorrow.

"What?! They can't deliver it this week?!"

"There wasn't anyone to deliver the present yesterday."

"Why does that even matter?! This makes no fucking sense!"

Chloé was reprimanding Sabrina the very next day at school. Alya and Marinette saw her rant and storm away into the building, visibly upset that Adrien's birthday had already passed and Marinette knew that because of the Bubbler incident, Chloé's present had not yet been shipped. But she was hoping that Adrien would like her own present.

"Ha ha, what a temper," Alya teased.

"Hey there!"

The environs of Paris were golder than ever when Adrien came out of the Cadillac limousine wearing a sky blue scarf. Marinette and Alya watched with glee and sedated levels of excitement.

"Ooh, my scarf! He's wearing the scarf I made!" Marinette whispered in a voice she hoped Adrien would hear. Nino came to the bottom of the stairs, fist-bumping Adrien as he greeted.

"Hey, friend."

"That's a nice scarf, Adrien!" Alya shouted from her distance. "It looks good on you."

"I know right? It's a birthday present I got from my dad!"

 _How could he not know? I signed the present!_ Marinette dropped her smile at the word "dad".

"In the past three years, all he gave me were these boring pens," Adrien said to Nino.

"Wow, you really can't know a person," Nino felt like a changed boy after being purified. "I guess there are times where adults can be pretty awesome."

Adrien sighed.

"About yesterday—when my dad said that word to you."

Nino laid his left hand on Adrien's right shoulder.

"It's okay, Adrien. Just forget about it. We're best friends. Best friends for life."

The reunited allies walked into the school and the girls watched them.

"You should have said you made that scarf," Alya whispered to Marinette.

"But he looks so happy to see a present from his father," Marinette reasoned, knowing about their relationship. "Let's just leave it like that."

Alya was so touched by her word, she just had to hug her best friend.

"Oh, Marinette, you're so thoughtful. One day, I'm sure Adrien will finally acknowledge you. I guarantee."

The bell rung and hand in hand, the girls walked into the school. Marinette's thoughts for the rest of the day focused on Adrien and the scarf she made. Perhaps if she would get closer to him, maybe then she would confess the truth of that lovely piece of fabric she had spent a week trying to sew. Either way, it had been the birthday Adrien had ever gotten.

Nobody ever mentioned that the present Chloé had given to Adrien had been a black Steinway grand piano.


	2. Stormy Weather (Storm Rage)

_My name's Marinette. A girl just like any other. But when destiny calls upon me to fight against the forces of evil, I become…Miraculous Ladybug!_

In the early morning of July 21st, KIDZ+, a television network aimed for a target audience of 4 to 18 years of age, was holding a contest for who would be the new weather forecaster after the prior applicant retired to resume her studies. Two competitors, Aurore Beauréal and Mireille Caquet, came walking on the red carpet from their respective limousines as their host Alec, a bald man of 28 with light brown skin, announced the grand finale to the contest.

"Welcome to the great final of KIDZ+! Today, you'll discover who will become the new weather forecaster for our channel!"

The crowds cheered at the blue haired Mireille and the blonde haired Aurore with her trademark parasol that matched the blonde level of her hair. She blew kisses to the crowd on her side while her competitor simply waved.

Inside the studio, Alec provided further results to the crew and the audience.

"At the beginning of the contest, there were 5,000 contestants. But thanks to your votes, dear viewers, the final will be today between these two fantastic ladies! Let's welcome our two finalists right away."

The girls in question were already standing by his sides.

"To my right is Aurore Beauréal, and to my left, Mireille Caquet."

Aurore placed her left index and middle fingers up while Mireille smiled for the camera.

"Number 1 is Aurore and Number 2 is Mireille," Alec continued. "And remember, the calls are not over taxed on our channel."

He snapped his left fingers, followed by a "ding!" courtesy of the sound effects department.

In her living room above the Boulangerie du Moulin de la Galette, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was chasing her latest victim—six year old Manon Chamack over and under the various couches and tables. Both of their parents were out shopping and seeing a movie for the day and would not be back until 5:30.

"Oh no, Manon, please give it back!"

But like any other six year old, Manon was feisty, running around with a straw hat and a pink band that Marinette designed herself. It was also fitted with a black bow with white dots.

"But I'm going to work in fashion, too!"

Jumping off as the older girl charged Marinette dived into the couch. Her dizzy brain recovered as her head turned to the girl.

"Manon, stop, it's not finished! You'll ruin it."

She found Manon hiding under the kitchen table and ducked down as the six year old jumped on a stool, slamming her crown under the table before she had a chance to catch her. Marinette looked beside the pale pink couch and heard Manon giggling, squinting her eyes while peering around the room. An odd appearance for the snow colored portière on the right hand side culminated the assumption that Manon was hiding behind that one, so she tiptoed over and pulled the curtain back. It was surprising to know that a doll with brown pig tails and a purple dress was in her place wearing the hat. Hearing her giggling from behind, Marinette seemed relieved to know that Manon had given up the chase and was holding the tablet phone.

"I vote for Mireille."

And before she could take action, Marinette retrieved the phone out of her grasp. But Manon saw the hat in Marinette's left hand and took that instead, wearing it as she continued to run as fast as her legs could carry her. Marinette had eventually decided to give up with a sigh and wondered to herself.

"Geez, why did I agree to do this babysitting job?"

"Because you needed the money for a rainy day," said a squeaky cute voice.

It was Tikki, her pet kwami, hanging off of her left shoulder. Marinette noticed this and whispered back to her, hoping to prevent someone so innocent and naive as Manon from becoming too curious.

"Stay hidden, Tikki!"

"Don't worry! You know what, if today you succeed to handle Manon, it'll be a piece of cake with the supervillains."

 _This is why Hellboy likes to live alone._ Marinette thought with discomfort of being in her partner's shoes. Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. Walking over to the door, she opened it to find her friend Alya Césaire standing in front of her.

"Hey, I have a huge scoop for you! Guess who is doing a photoshoot at the park?"

In her left hand she held her iPhone up to Marinette's face, displaying the love of her life, Adrien Agreste, standing beside a tree in the Place des Vosges, which was right next to where she lived. In front of him was a photographer in plaid pants and Adrien's Max von Mayerling of a chauffeur holding a reflective light. Surprised, Marinette snatched the phone in ecstasy.

"No way! Adrien is in the park right now?"

"Ab-so-lute-ly!" said Alya with enunciation.

"But what am I going to say to him?"

Marinette felt vapid. She was a nervous wreck whenever she was in hind-sight of Adrien.

"Oh your usual 'I, uh, er, em.'"

Alya mocked her friend with the slack tongue and stretched hands of a zombie. It was pissing Marinette to an itty bubble that was starting to explode.

"Stop," she said and added two laughs of amusement.

Manon popped her head in-between the teen girl's legs, asking.

"Who is she?"

But instead of a straight answer, Marinette was still focused on Alya.

"Oops, I forgot this 'detail'."

"And who is this detail?" asked Alya looking down at Manon, waving at her in a friendly way.

"Her name's Manon," Marinette explained. "She's the daughter of my mother's friend and I'm supposed to take care of her this afternoon."

Gasping at the word "afternoon", she realized something else.

"I can't go!"

"Let me guess," inquired Alya. "It's one of your famous 'I couldn't say no' excuses."

"No! It's just that…"

Realizing the very word of denial she had spoken, Marinette slowed down.

"I… couldn't… say… no…"

Thus she lowered her upper body as she spoke, grim with defeat and neglect. But Alya was not a quitter, she was an aspiring woman with positive thoughts and objectives in life.

"No problem, I'll just take care of her."

Manon ran off to explore some more, leaving the older girls by themselves.

"It is thoughtful of you," said Marinette. "But she's under my care. Plus I can't do this to you. She such an…angel."

Despite all the difficulty she had suffered, Marinette always saw the good in people, especially feisty six year olds like Manon. But just as she said this, there was a crash. Manon had reached for a spatula and a pan, knocking three dirty pots over in her excitement.

"Give those back!" shouted Marinette, running after her.

Manon jumped and Marinette caught the pan as her breasted collided into the couch. Running after her back into the kitchen, Tikki's advice finally paid off, resulting in Marinette finally grabbing Manon's left arm and dragging her back to the living room.

"You're being led around by the nose, Marinette," Alya said as Marinette and Manon reached her. "I often look after my little sisters so now I am an expert on 'little angels'."

Again, after being dejecting from knowing more about this stranger the first time, Manon asked louder than before.

"Hey! Who are you?"

Alya had a way to regale her.

"I'm a magical unicorn from Vispa Planet! Now I am taking the form of a pretty young maiden who likes children and grants their wishes….but only the wishes of good children."

Her right index finger tapped Manon's nose, causing a small giggle out of her mouth. But despite the faux explanation, Manon was not a fool.

"You're no unicorn."

Her eyes blinked three times, her nativity coming back to her as she tiled her head three degrees to the right, placed her left index finger under her chin and gave a worried, puzzled look on her face.

"Right….?"

But all Alya did was pick her up and carry her in her hands up to Marinette, landing the six year old on her shoulders. Alya attached Marinette hands to Manon's ankles and now it looked as if she were prepared.

"Now you can go to the park."

Before heading out the door, Alya's left index finger flipped Marinette's chin, surprising her before the girl unleashed an upbeat amount of cheerfulness and walked her way out the door, taking careful steps on her way down the stairs.

Back at the KIDZ+ studio, near the final voting of the contestants, Alec made his announcement that would close the event.

"It's the moment you've all been waiting for! You've made your choice at home. And the new weathercaster of KIDZ+ is…"

The numbers came in from 82 to 18 on turquoise and yellow umbrellas.

"Mireille!"

The numbers on her side having come in, Mireille cheered for joy. Aurore, however found the loss to be completely unacceptable. 18 wasn't enough for her and to make matters worse, she had more knowledge of the weather than what Mireille had in her own little finger…or so she thought.

"Wow, you were soundly beaten," Alec said with sympathy to her. "Another time, maybe?"

"I don't want a next time," Aurore seethed. "I have been waiting an eternity for this. I made straight A's in meteorology, bought this parasol specifically for more than just rainy occasions and I've been popular by the others in my circle for three years! A lot longer than Mireille here."

"Hey, cheer up!" Alec suggested. "There's just a gap of 1 million votes between the two of you!"

Aurore left elbowed Alec's stomach and ran off.

But he reckoned without the eyes and ears of the antagonistic Hawk Moth, which were _all over Paris._

The eye of his observatory opened up by itself and the butterflies flew all around his body

"The emotional vibrations are strong, I already feel the anger, the disappointment, the moment when my next victim will weaken. A perfect victim for my akuma."

A butterfly of white purity landed on his left hand. His right gloved covered it with his right and dark energy emitting from the atmosphere, turned it into something very dark, very disturbing and very fantabulous—and akuma. He let her go, letting it fly into the sky like a heat seeking missile.

 _Find the prey,_ she whispered. _Find the prey._

And off she flew, intent on tracking her victim down faster than a LowJack.

In need of leaving for home to despair herself, Aurore frantically pushed the down button on the elevator eight times until the doors opened and she could enter. Backing herself onto the wall, she lamented her loss and external comparisons with Mireille, even if the girls were friends.

"I should have won. I have talent and I'm beautiful. I look like a star! While she has nothing at all! It was my victory and they took it all from me!"

But nobody could hear her and her voice cracked with the electricity that sparked out, lighting the room in a dim darkness. A black butterfly came squeezing through the doors, and Aurore, terrified of insects used her parasol as a shield. But unfortunately, the butterfly morphed with the umbrella into a black stain. The light turned back on and Aurore was sitting down, listening to the new voice that echoed in her head.

"You are absolutely right. You should have won."

A purple mask with the neon insignia of a butterfly covered her eyes. Standing up with courage, Aurore was starting to gasp the entity of a new identity.

"Yes, _I_ am the real winner!"

She said this with venom in her voice…the venom of a poisonous butterfly. The voice of superior resonated in her head for the second time.

"Stormy Weather, I am Hawk Moth, master of the butterfly. As my weather forecaster, I'll give you a chance to get revenge against those opposed to you. In return, you have to bring me the Miraculous Stones. Understand?"

Aurore smiled, her pact with the devil complete.

"Alright!"

A black ooze covered her from head to toe as Hawk Moth gave her the last instructions.

"Go my dear Stormy and show everyone who the real weather forecaster is!"

When she came out of the elevator, Aurore, now Stormy Weather, had accepted her new appearance: light purple-gray eyes, dark purpureus hair with periwinkle bangs, and dark byzantium ponytails with shades of periwinkle spiraling to the tips of the tails. Her dress was completely composed of white elbow length gloves, boots that matched the color of clouds and a dark dress with the insignia of a lightning bolt emitting a magenta colored light. She laughed evilly as she left the elevator, intent on surprising a trap for her now ex-friend.

In the park, under the additional supervision of Stanley Ipkiss, Adrien had already taken three photos of himself looking excited. Jumping off a fountain, balancing his right foot on the fountain and looking cool as he held his right hand over his ear were just one of the many poses he could think of, his trademark pose of just sitting down with his left leg resting on the fountain was coming right up after his current position. The Sicilian photographer clicked madly away as if he were taking so many shots of Adrien to be used as reference material in creating a computer generated model of himself.

"Yes, _si_ , good."

Marinette hid behind a thin oak tree with Manon underneath and Alya over her.

"Alright," she summarized. "Let's just pretend to be passing by…casually. Like we're here as if had been totally by chance."

"And then?" asked Alya from above.

"And then…"

A flash of images went through Marinette's head at the speed of light.

"I'll ask him to have a drink! Like, a fruit juice or a smoothie! Just after his shooting, we'll get married and live in a beautiful house!"

In her mind, she was surrounded by a wallpaper of roses and two babies: A girl in brown named Emma and a boy in lime green named Louis.

"We'll have two children, no, three!"

She added a boy in purple named Hugo into the mix.

"And a dog! OR a cat? No, not a cat, a hamster! I LOVE HAMSTERS!"

Her speech had become rapid as it travelled into a fantasized future. So enveloped by this fantasy, she lifted her right leg and clasped her hands to her right cheek. She was taken away from that dream when Alya's voice filled her ears.

"If you don't mind, we'l just start by casually passing by. You'll have plenty of time to think about the hamster."

Marinette blushed.

Hellboy had also been strolling around the park, always making himself aware of any trouble that came his way. Most of these strolls just always happened to have alerted him to the recent attacks of Hawk Moth's newest victim, and by chance, he would end up fighting alongside Ladybug, Cat Noir, and to his annoyance, the Mask.

He saw Adrien being coached by Stanley Ipkiss for his posture in the next pair of photographs.

"Try looking cool, like that, trademark pose you get in a lot of your earlier pictures."

"I was just about to do it," Adrien said, and he sat on the fountain with his left leg arched on the stone.

"Mmm, you are awesome," the photographer clicked away five times over. "Go! I want to see the sun set in your eyes."

Adrien did his best to smile, ignoring the female trio behind him, with a certain blue haired Chinese girl marching like a toy soldier with her left foot stretch forward and the right one pushed after the other one had been lowered down.

"Don't forget, just casually passing by…."

Marinette's tone of voice was failing with ease. She tried her best not to make a fool of herself. But it was then that Adrien spotted, that she stopped and could move a further inch but wave at him. Adrien waved back before the clearing of Stanley Ipkiss' throat and the unpleasant face of the photographer slapped him back to work mode.

"Well if we had been invisible," said Alya with a direct concern of the flaw. "It would be the same."

Marinette pushed Alya and Manon back to the hiding spot, hoping that they far enough to prevent Adrien from hearing her squeals.

"Did you see that? He waved at me?"

Alya's tone was unimpressed.

"Wooooow, yeah I saw… It's not as if we were classmates."

Hellboy, sitting on the bench was feeling bored. His reply to Marinette's attempts at getting Adrien were indifferent and brief.

"Teenage hormones, who needs them?"

He looked over at Adrien's crew, not caring at least one bit for the guy in the pinstripe suit—Stanley Ipkiss. Turning to his gaze at Alya setting Marinette's uncontrollably waving right hand down, he was satisfied at the strong female who knew how to deal with males professionally.

Back at the studio, Mireille was walking into the elevator, caressing the trophy in her arms and treating it like a teddy bear. When the doors opened, her face dropped at the sight of another girl in purple and white. The parasol looked familiar to her.

"Aurore?"

"Aurore is dead, my friend, you call me…Stormy Weather. And as you can see, I'm the only weather forecaster who is _never_ wrong. Here is some bad news for you: looks like something frosty is headed your way…."

She smiled sadistically, watching Mireille back herself further into the elevator.

"RIGHT NOW!"

Holding the parasol in both hands like a rifle, she created a strong blast of light that was as white and blue as ice. Instantly the winner was now frozen solid, and would forever be stuck there in her place, for Stormy Weather's powers allowed anything made of ice to be completely unmeltable—even on a day when the sun was boiling directly overhead. Only she could melt or destroy the ice at will, that is, if she were at the control of her parasol. Then she went over the door, ready exact revenge on those vetoed her.

In the park, Adrien, after three poses of a smile, was listening to the photographer's unstoppable and aspiring demands.

"Now imagine your mama bringing a bowl of spaghetti. And now, oh damn, your mama dropped the bowl of spaghetti!"

Adrien tried to ignore the allegory of his absent mother, but Marinette's jaw was just about to fall off before Alya's right hand pushed it back into place.

The photographer continued his instructions.

"You are surprised! Surprised! Now you are angry. Angry! Yes, like this! Give them more!"

Manon, sitting from Adrien's distance didn't see too much of the photoshoot as a learning experience, her mind was distracted by a red balloon with the face of Mireille placed onto it. She clasped her hands onto Marinette and yanked her back and forth.

"Marinette! I want that Mireille balloon! Please, please?!"

Marinette was too dazed to think about anything else. Her pathetic smile and half-mast eyes were locked onto Adrien's shining complexion. She was for a split-second, then…

"Marinette? MARINETTE!"

This caused the aforementioned girl to spin her limbs wildly, also catching the attention of the photographer.

" _Che cazzo?!_ "

"Please, please?!"

Marinette didn't how to handle this. Fortunately for her, Alya saved the day for the second time.

"Okay, little worm, let's go get your balloon."

Just as her hands reached for her, Manon jumped onto Marinette's right leg, seeing she was the _only_ older girl she could trust.

"I wanna go with Marinette!" the toddler pleaded.

Marinette looked back at the photographer, the chauffer and Mr. Ipkiss. In their minds, they appeared to be asking her, "Is this your child?" with expression of disappointed approval.

"All right," she sighed. "I'll do it. I am her babysitter after all."

"What about Adrien?"

Alya was still willing to help, but Marinette simply replied.

"He can wait," she said as if it were her secondary objective.

Letting go, Marinette took Manon by the left hand and walked over to the balloons, fortunately it would not be a very long walk for her.

At the studio entrance, Stormy weather walked down the red carpet, surrounded by confused reporters and crowds of fans chanting "Mireille! Mireille!" until their voices started to slow down the numerous clicks of the cameras became few.

"Where is Mireille?" asked a brown-skinned man with short black hair."

Stormy felt like a star at that moment with no ulterior motives, but it was then that she revealed the truth.

"To those who voted for Mireille: You better run and hide because a big storm is headed your way!"

A second passed. No one took her seriously

"Too late!"

And just like that, she summoned a strong gale that blew away the crowd and the iron barriers. Some of them were sent skidding across the way, receiving scrapes, cuts and bruises from colliding with the pavement. Pleased at this, Stormy took off as fast as lightning to stir up all sorts of chaos she had in mind.

"Lets go back now."

Marinette was satisfied that Manon had gotten her balloon, but the girl's head was turned by—

"I want to go on the merry-go-round!"

Marinette stopped her when she was halfway there.

"Oh no, no, no, no! Maybe another time, I have to get back to Adrien."

Manon gave her a face of innocence.

"But you promised me…don't you keep your promises?"

"Don't look at me like that with those kitty eyes."

Poor Marinette was in distress when Manon's eyes looked like they were about pour crocodile tears all over the sand. Her lips relaxed into a smile and that was when Manon shouted "I LOVE YA!" and dragged her to the marry-go-round, smiling and giggling all the way.

Flying across the various districts of Paris, Stormy Weather was everywhere and so was Mireille's face, on posters…and a balloon that made her so curious that she popped it by driving the parasol through the fabric and the remnants fell to Earth. Stormy heard crying from down below. Her initial thought was that she made the owner of the balloon cry, but instead was a victim of circumstance by just simply letting it go. The boy received another balloon instead with his mother's extra money. She swooped down and took that balloon instead with the sadistic pleasure of popping what was in stock with an icicle tip from her parasol.

By now, Adrien was bored and exhausted. In his next set of photographs, he scratched the back of his throat with his right hand and yawned with the same hand to act as a barrier placed four inches from his mouth…much to the dismay of the photographer.

"No, no, no! Now you look as though you have eaten _too much_ spaghetti!"

He spread his arms apart, emphasizing his wants.

"We need energy, romanticism! We need…"

Turning around, his eyes locked onto Alya, sitting under a tree with an apple in her right hand.

"…a girl!"

He rushed over to the young lady in question, surprising her momentarily.

"You! Would you like to be an extra model for just a moment?"

Alya knew that a chance like this belonged to Marinette, but while she was confused at that moment, she pointed at herself.

"Who? Me?"

" _Si_ ," the photographer said with a strict tone. "As Adrien's partner."

Alya stood up, trying to make a fast decision before it was too late.

"Ah, actually that's not a good idea. I am having an allergic reaction to this apple."

She threw it back, perfecting the illusion.

"But don't worry, I have the perfect girl for you! Be right back!"

Just as Marinette had completely placed Manon on a white unicorn with a purple-pink neck brace, Alya rushed over in huffed breaths.

"They need a girl to be Adrien's partner."

"WHAAT?! SERIOUSY!?"

 _OMFG!_

Manon was curious.

"Who's Adrien? Is he your boyfriend?"

Hearing this words come from the mouth of an innocent girl, Marinette grew flustered and slightly wild with the fever of unable to make a true decision.

"No, I mean, yes! Well…yes…no."

"Well, go ahead!" Alya persisted. "What are you waiting for?"

"But what about Manon?"

Marinette had taken a motherly tone of voice at that specific moment. It felt rare for her to care for Manon like this after all the trouble with the hat.

"No worries! Let me ride this."

She took her seat behind Manon on the unicorn and used her right hand to shoo Marinette off in a friendly way.

"Go to your Prince Charming. I'll handle this little unicorn and babysit her much better than you."

Manon crossed her arms like the stubborn child that she really was. Having known Marinette longer than any of the older girl's friends, she could not trust this stranger, and it seemed pretty obvious based on the old fashioned rule "Never talk to strangers."

"But Marinette's my babysitter!" was all she said and there was nothing Alya could do to make the carousel move. Or at least that is what Marinette thought when Alya thrusted her right arm forward and shouted in a dramatic voice.

"Unicorns unite! Immediate take off to Rispa! Let us meet with the good children and grant them their wishes! YIHAAA!"

"YIHAA!" yelled Manon with her arms in the air.

Marinette smiled, and satisfied with the outcome, she disappeared away to find Adrien.

But as she was about thirty feet from the light of her love, a cold wind filled her body, followed by screams to a mime-looking girl in pale and purple make up floating above the park. The girl in question, Stormy Weather, thrusted her parasol back and blew a wind of cold waves that swirled around the carousel, encasing it in an immortal dome of ice. The cold temperature was so cold that it turned Manon's balloon into rocks, scattering into five pieces.

Knowing what to do, Marinette ran behind a green bench on the eastern border of the park and opened her purse for Tikki.

"Now is our time," she informed the kwami.

"Tikki, transform me!"

Her earrings were embroidered with five black spots. Her hands covered her eyes with a domino mask and with a reflexive twirl, the rest of her body became the Miraculous Ladybug.

Stormy Weather had also gotten Hellboy's attention as well. Pulling out his guns, he fired seven times but all of the bullets were caught into an icicle that fell from five feet, smashing the contents entirely upon impact. Then the villainess shot three more blasts of cold wind and ice at a variety of victims: a couple, the balloon vendor and the mother and the son. The other occupants left in a rush for safety and when the photographer noticed this, he, Stanley and the chauffer scrambled too, leaving Adrien to himself.

He rushed to his satchel to find that Plagg, his own kwami, was not there.

"I am not here and I'm sleeping anyways."

Adrien was surrounded by three boxes with silver rims and was not willing to use the process of elimination. In-between his left index and thumb fingers was a spare piece of camembert that he had saved for an "emergency". The powerful smell of that tiny piece flew into Plagg's nostrils and he came from a silver case with hungry eyes. He zipped his way over to the cheese and opened his mouth very wide for a second. But he still had some energy to talk things over with his master.

"Have I told you that I can smell camembert in my sleep? It's one of my many talents."

Adrien just dropped the cheese and Plagg followed it to the ground.

"Awesome," he said with a tone that lacked interest. "But we can talk cheese stuff later."

"Plagg, transform me!"

In an instant, Plagg was sucked into the silver, now black, ring out of his own free will and flicking his right index finger over his eyes, Adrien created a black domino mask. He hands ran through his hair, adding cat ears and the rest of his body was covered a skin-tight cat suit with a leather belt for a tail.

Ladybug, meanwhile, ran back to the merry-go-round with some worried thoughts on her mind.

"Why did I leave Manon behind?!" she said out loud. "No, Alya's right. She'll take care of her."

"I'll get you out of there!" she called to the two prisoners.

She threw her yo-yo at the dome, wrapping the string around.

"I'll just have to cut this giant ice cake."

But instead of a cut while she tugged, the string just squeezed to the top of the dome, resulting in total backfire of the disk that pushed her head and herself to the ground.

"I'll go to Plan B," she said simply. Then she rushed over to the two prisoners.

"Hey, don't worry, everything will be okay!"

A frightened Manon pressed her hands against the glass.

"Where's Marinette?"

Ladybug leaned down to her, spiritually using her true identity as an embodiment of kindness.

"Don't worry, she did not forget about you, Manon."

Manon was surprised, she didn't even know if Ladybug knew everybody in Paris. So she asked.

"How do you know my name?"

Marinette realized her mistake under the mask. Resuming her Ladybug persona, she explained.

"Marinette told me. She's going to get you soon."

With left thumb up acknowledgement from Alya, Ladybug took off after Stormy Weather to avenge her wrongdoings. She joined Hellboy by the entrance.

"I saw the girl, tried to shoot her and believe me, she's quick enough to freeze my bullets."

"Then we have to act fast too," Ladybug replied.

Stormy Weather also caught Stanley's attention. Hiding behind that same tall oak tree, he came out in a yellow zoot suit, hat and all as…The Mask. His eyes bulged and his mouth wolf-whistled when he saw Stormy.

"Hold on, Sugar! Daddy's got a sweet tooth today!"

He laughed twice and rushed over, spotting Cat Noir on the fence. He leaped his way over, stretching his legs as he zipped over to the cat in lurex fabric.

"Hey Ice Queen," teased the cat. "Your arrival has cast an icy chill. Because of you there are no more cats in this neighborhood."

She turned her head back, instantly glaring over her left shoulder to see Cat Noir on the fence, five feet away from her.

"My name is Stormy Weather, not Ice Queen!"

 _What a pisser._ The Mask took Stormy by surprise of wrapping his right arm around her and imposing a soft, romantic tone to his voice.

"Your lips sting me like the lightning bolts under your control and your warm, embracing behavior is like the warm weather of your creation. But other than that, I can't be too picky."

Stormy squeezed the umbrella under the arm and opened it, creating a gale that blew the two heroes in opposite directions. Cat landed on his abdomen in-between two cars, a yellow Fiat and a blue Citroen. Mask was followed by

"She is so coy," the Mask slurred trying to recover himself.

His mood suddenly changed.

"I LOVE IT!"

Close to Cat was Ladybug, having seen his escapade with the new villainess. She over, willing to help him up in spite of his sarcastic behavior.

"I'm disappointed," said Ladybug with an offering right hand. "I thought all cats were supposed to land on their feet."

"I wanted to, my Ladybug," replied Cat as he dusted himself off. "For the pleasure of greeting you."

He tipped his head forwards and puckered his lips, intent on kissing her hand in a formal, gentlemanly way. But her own right index finger pressed against his nose and pushed him back.

"There's no time to play the charmer, Cat Noir. A thanks would have been enough."

In front of them was Stormy, floating seven feet above the ground.

"We report a stormy weather with lightning risks," the wicked forecaster gloated as he lifted the parasol towards the sky. "RIGHT NOW!"

Grey nimbus clouds seemed to turn the bright sunny day into a dark night. Hellboy and the Mask, having seen this from their side away from Ladybug and Cat, rushed to find their fellow colleagues. Cat, given his unlucky nature, was standing right where a purple bolt of lightning struck the ground, and was moved out of harm's way, fortunately, by Ladybug. As they rolled over the cobbled streets and came to a stop, Cat realized that he was on top of his partner in a seemingly sexual position. He beamed innocently at the lady of his dreams, but Ladybug's left hand pushed his chin in the direction of Stormy.

By then, the two "comedians" had arrived. Cat stood up at the sinister Stormy hovering away from them.

"Ah, she wants to play cat and mouse," Cat said with glee.

"A feisty one who can't seem to stay put."

The Mask's words reminded Marinette of Manon in a nutshell.

"Fearful icy road!"

The road was converted into an ice rink, too icy for the fearless four. Then, elevating another five feet up, she added, "Tornado!" right into the mix.

As promised it created a strong blow of wind. It blew the four away along with five cars, but Ladybug's yo-yo warped around a pole and her left hand caught Cat Noir's leather tail. Mask grabbed onto the same pole and his elongated left arm grabbed Hellboy by the back of his shirt. The wind stopped and all four fell to the pavement while Stormy, distracted by a billboard of Mireille, was surrounded by the tornado, using it as her own vessel of destruction.

"She's starting to get me angry," said Cat, cracking his knuckles.

"And she's too _breezy_ for my taste," added Mask.

Before Cat could charge, he was held back by the tail for the second time today by Ladybug.

"Woah, there, kitty kitty. Think before you get your claws out."

She released the tail as Cat turned to face her.

"Why?" asked Hellboy. "You have a plan?"

"Just follow my lead."

And she raced toward the building in front of her: A series of apartments. She sprinted across the side with every knowledge of parkour without a flaw in her steps. Cat followed her on the opposite buildings with Mask and Hellboy taking pursuit in the streets. Stormy turned around, spotting the two heroes.

"YOU AGAIN?!"

She spun her parasol like a baseball bat and summoned a strong wind that blew the cars on the street towards Ladybug and Cat, who had jumped in mid-air. When they were about ten feet from the ground, the wind pushed them back into the air and flung the four heroes eight blocks away from their intended target. Cat was boxed in by a red Porsche and white Audi, forming as pillars that collided their rear ends. Satisfied that we wasn't crushed under the makeshift arch, Cat Noir ran to find Ladybug, who was dodging the cars that came her way along with Hellboy, who tried to punch them out of the way, and the Mask, who flexed his upper body at the oncoming automobiles. All four looked up at an Irisbus Agora and Ladybug's left arm gripped Cat as she spun her yo-yo wildly around. Mask used his hat as a shield and Hellboy took cover as a failsafe option, should he not be strong enough to punch the bus out of the street.

Sure enough the bus crashed through and the heroes were safely inside. Ladybug kept spinning her yo-yo as the bells in the bus slowly died down. When the yo-yo stopped, the disk struck Cat Noir's crown and Hellboy broke in before the two could get into an argument.

"I'll get us out."

And taking the top area of the window underneath him, he lifted the bus upright. It teetered twice before righting itself up.

Back at the park, a duo of firefighters used axes to hack their way through the dome where Aya and Manon were still inside. The ice was so thick, it made the axes look weak, but not so much for the "hands game" the girls played.

"Barley, rice, barley, rice, catch it when it's rice. Barley, barley bang!"

Alya held her hands up as Manon fell. It was clear to her that the older girl had won.

"It's not fair, you win all the time!"

There was a creaking noise…

"Is it the ice breaking?" Manon asked fearfully.

But it was a roof of icicles growing down upon them, threatening to pierce their bodies and it was the brave and courageous Alya who placed her hand on her hips and spoke deeply.

"It's probably the boss goblin! He ate so much that his pants are tearing up! AHHAHAHAHA! RAWR!"

She gesticulated her hands to represent the mysterious goblin boss as Manon ran for her life with a playful scream. The illusion seemed to be working for Alya, but she stopped when the icicles grew by another two inches. It frightened them both by this case of intended harm, but they sat down on the merry-go-round as Alya said.

"Why not I tell you a story?"

As Alya began to tell her tale, Stormy Weather came to a roof, at Rue de Sévigné to be exact. Hawk Moth's voice came to her for the second time.

" _Now, I think they understand who was the true winner my dear Climatika._ "

Stormy smiled at her secondary pet name.

" _I kept my promise, now's your turn. So here is my plan…Get the Miraculous stones…_ "

After leaving the bus through the door, Ladybug, Cat Noir, Hellboy and the Mask ran down the street, intent on finding Stormy Weather before she would find them first.

"Is it me or is she a slightly shady character?" asked Ladybug.

"It is either that or she failed her driver's license test," Cat added.

"Boyfriend troubles," Hellboy explained. "It happens all the time."

"Or she's just an insensitive bitch with the size of an ego," finished the Mask.

Ladybug did wish to compare Stormy's boyfriend troubles between her and Cat Noir, solving the mystery of the villainess' identity came first.

Their luck came on a large television screen at the end of the road on their right, Stormy addressed the audience in front of map of Paris in dark purple.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here are the weather reports for the first day of summer…"

She moved back by four steps, presenting the map with unpredicted sarcasm in her voice.

"Oops, it seems Mother Nature has changed her plans. Summer vacations are OVER FOREVER!"

The force of her voice struck Cat Noir's persona of Adrien with a hard blow. The Mask dropped his jaw all the way to the ground and Hellboy could only stop his right foot, but thankfully it did not create an earthquake, otherwise it would have slightly derailed Stormy's plans if the building she was in collapsed.

"Well, that's too bad, I look pretty hot in a swimsuit," the cat teased, but the ladybug's serious tone affected by the powers of her kwami thought otherwise.

"Thanks to her I am not going to see that. Anyway, now we know where to find her….the KIDS+ building."

As she spoke, tiny snowflakes began to fall, growing faster and faster with every ounce of Stormy's rage and imperious motives.

"Prepare yourself for the worst storm of all time. No need for sun…"

Arriving at the front office, Cat Noir stopped at the cardboard cutout of Aurore Beauréal, smiling with an open umbrella above her, representing the sign of oncoming rain at a predictable pace.

"Hey, she looks familiar."

"And smokin' hot too!" Mask added with large boggled eyes.

"The weather forecaster!" Ladybug realized, with her knowledge of possession by akumas coming into her mind. "The akuma must be in her umbrella!"

"I have the pleasure to announce that nice weather is over," taunted Stormy Weather as the four heroes raced down the halls to find the main soundstage. "Now it is eternal weather!"

At last they came to a pair of dynamite red doors, taking twenty steps to allow the quartet to have enough willpower and force to push the doors down. So they did…but when they heard the laughter of Stormy weather echoing across the room, they found a small screen bearing her image. The image of Stormy covering her mouth with her right hand had caught them off guard.

"Why didn't we think of this before?" Mask asked out of outrage.

"Because it was obvious," groaned Hellboy and he slammed his right fist at the middle camera in a blind fury.

But it was then that the real Stormy that appeared in front of the doorway, using her parasol to fire off a purple bolt at a pair of four klieg lights, the four heroes leaped out of the way. Then as quick as a flash, Stormy rushed to the generator in the ceiling and pulled the main dual switch down. With each second, the lights turned off, leaving the building in total darkness.

In his observatory, Hawk Moth began to gloat of practicing what he could actually do with the stones, which was hidden from the heroes in the meantime.

"Everything is going as exactly planned. Soon the Miraculous stones will be mine. Bring them to me now, Stormy Weather!"

Unfortunately on his part, cats could always see in the dark and it was Cat Noir's night vision that caught the glimpse of Stormy Weather rushing out of the room to who knows where.

"Who turned off the lights?" asked the Mask, trying to find a flashlight in his "bag of tricks", and so he did, waving the dim light around the room.

"Lady Glagla blew us off," Cat explained.

He saw Ladybug struggling to see where she was going. She tripped over the fallen klieg light and her face was illuminated by the Mask's flashlight, catching the attention of Cat Noir.

"Oh? A damsel in distress?"

His right paw took Ladybug's left hand and he pulled her to the exit as she protested. Hellboy having had some experience in the dark himself, grabbed onto Ladybug's right arm and the mask followed after them with his flashlight.

"Hey, sorry, I don't have the chance to have night vision like you!"

"Just trust me!" Cat exclaimed and off they ran through the building.

Back inside the frozen carousel, the firefighters had given up, commentating the thick nature of the ice to the chief but that did not stop Alya, who was sitting in a ladybug colored buggy on the carousel telling her story to Manon.

"So the cyclops lifted the princess with his claws and said, 'You're worth a look!'"

Manon was excited and interested. She giggled with delight at how humorous her new babysitter was turning out to be.

"The princess immediately reacts by putting a finger in his eye. And before leaving the cavern, she ate a cursed potato and fell into a deep, deep slumber!"

And that was when Manon started to expresses the terror in her face. But not from the story, rather, it was the icicles breaking through the roof of the carousel. After some thought the team tried for the second time and still, they were not getting any further. All Alya could do was hug Manon as she were her own child and pray.

"Please hurry, Ladybug."

"It's okay now, I can take care of myself!"

Ladybug was still being dragged by Cat Noir up the stairs in the emergency exit leading to the roof, but cat saw Stormy lifting a fire extinguisher and threw it at Ladybug before the girl ducked down and let herself be dragged by Cat while Hellboy knocked the extinguisher back.

"Um, alright. I'll follow you this time."

Cat opened the doors to the roof, and still holding Ladybug's hand, came face to face with Stormy hovering above them with a wicked cackle.

"You guys are so cute! You fell right into my trap!"

"Well, thank you, Mademoiselle Évident," glowered Hellboy.

"CYCLONE!"

And with mother nature on her side, a tornado enveloped the building. Fortunately it was anchored to the ground, so there were no chances of having it fly off and crash back down to Earth once the cyclone ended. In her head, the voice of Hawk Moth resonated the final objective.

" _It is time. Take the Miraculous stones!_ "

But Stormy Weather had a lot more on her mind than just taking some bits of jewelry, even if they were powerful.

"Party's over! You'll never get out of the cyclone!"

"This is just-"

Before she could utter "the beginning", Ladybug looked and frowned to see that her left hand was still holding Cat's, who smiled sheepishly scratched the back of his head with his right hand. Mask and Hellboy smiled at each other with devious looks and snickered like fools. Ladybug let her hand go and resumed her line.

"This is just the beginning, Stormy Weather!"

She threw her yo-yo up into the air.

"Lucky Charm!"

The hearts emitting from the yo-yo whirled around to create….

"A towel?"

"What good will that do?" asked Hellboy.

"Great," Cat Noir groaned. "That's just what I needed, dry my hair."

"Don't worry," said Mask. "Now hold on to your lug nuts, it's time for an overhaul!"

As he said this, Ladybug wrapped the towel around her right wrist. But Stormy Weather had something fierce in mind.

"GUST WIND!"

Tiny bits of ice came down upon the heroes, Cat took Ladybug by the right arm and dragged her under him and twirled his baton above him like a rapidly spinning bumbershoot while Mask did the same with Hellboy and used his fedora as a strong shield

"It's not that I'm tired, but I have a cramp!"

"How are we going to snag the Akuma?" The Mask shouted over the sound of the wind.

Ladybug looked at a pipe, a vent, the pipes in-between and finally her eyes rested on the towel wrapped around her right wrist.

"See that billboard?" she instructed Cat Noir. "Bring it down!"

"Alright!"

The ring's paw glowed green, extracting external energy into a black ball of destruction.

"Cataclysm!"

"Hey, false Ice Queen! Is that all you can do?"

He raced toward the billboard, dodging the blasts of purple lightning as he went on his feet, over the vent and over an electric box where he slid on the railing and clawed his right hand against the billboard. It proved to be successful, and the bill board, creaking under the rusted metal, attracted Stormy's attention as it began to fall. She would have been crushed if it hadn't been for Ladybug's yo-yo that wrapped around her left ankle.

She fired at the billboard, creating a hole and swept through while the rest of the billboard knocked over the top of the vent, allowing Ladybug to slide under a pipe, jump from the wall of a crane and use the towel above her head as a parachute going in reverse. With the wind and the string of the yo-yo as her guide, it dragged Stormy down, screaming as she passed Ladybug. The crane turned around in the wind and knocked the parasol out of her hands. The parasol landed in Cat Noir's claws and he tossed it to Hellboy who snapped it in half between his knees, releasing the butterfly.

The Mask pulled out a long mallet, hoping to squash the butterfly. The butterfly however was too fast for him and it was Ladybug's yo-yo that caught the insect as she shouted "It's time to purify!"

Then she let it go, the butterfly once again normal.

"Bye bye, pretty butterfly."

Then she threw the towel at twenty feet high into the sky.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

The dark sky turned blue, the damage was fixed, the ice had melted and the cars were restored to their proper places. Even the camera that Hellboy broke was restored to its former glory. Alya culminated her fairy tale as the ice dome began to steam from the purification process.

"and after beating up a three headed dragon with a…"

Before she could mention a melee attack that was as powerful as Excalibur, she saw the sun breaking through the ice and the firefighters clapped each other over this success of _dues ex Machina._

"taekwondo move, the princess kissed the charming prince and…"

"And they lived happily ever after?" asked Manon as she was lifted out of the ladybug cart on the carousel.

"Well yeah," Alya said. "At least until they had a dozen little worms like you who made them go crazy."

She tapped Manon's nose ten times with her left index finger, sprouting a giggle from the girl.

And to top it all off, Aurore was transformed back to her original state and the four heroes fist bumped each other.

"Mission accomplished!"

"What am I doing here?" the slightly annoyed voice of Aurore broke the moment.

The Mask, being more gentlemanly towards Aurore than what she was before, brought the girl safely down, Hellboy left without so much as a quick good-bye and Ladybug and Cat Noir went their separate ways.

In his observatory, all Hawk Moth could do was sulk as the eye closed back into the darkness.

"Someday, your Miraculous stones will be mine. No matter how many enemies I have to create to kill you, your stones will be _MINE!_ "

About ten minutes later, Marinette was rushing back to the park, directly towards Alya and Manon. Tikki, poking her head out of the purse, noticed something else.

"Hey, Adrien and the photographer are still waiting for you at the shoot."

Marinette stopped, looking at the preparations over by the fountain.

"Yes, Marinette!" said Tikki with zeal. "You saved Manon and the whole city of Paris! You deserve it!"

Speaking of Manon, Marinette heard her voice.

"Marinette!"

Tikki dived back into the purse and Manon came running up to her _real_ babysitter. The little girl jumped into Marinette's arms and he picked her up with ease.

"Hey, I now your secret," Manon said quietly when Marinette released the hug. Her face dropped.

"What secret?"

Just when it seemed like Manon was smart enough to look through her disguise…she received a, surprisingly different answer.

"Ladybug is your best friend! That's why you always know what the other is doing."

Marinette sighed with relief and cuddled Manon. Then they walked over to Adrien, hand in hand.

"Can I have a lollipop please?" asked Manon randomly.

"No, Manon," replied Marinette, disappointing her. "I have something very important to do. Alya, stay with her. You don't mind?"

Alya held Manon's left hand, and her trust for the new babysitter was returning.

"Hey!" Marinette shouted to the photographer. "I'm ready for the photo shoot!"

Adrien saw her as well. He stood up, preparing to greet Marinette when the photographer framed his hands over her left shoulder.

"Two seconds…who is this little angel?"

He pointed to Manon before she realized who he was referring to and sure, Manon was in Adrien's arms, sitting with their backs together and she even got to kiss his left cheek.

Even though she missed her chance, the generous heart of Marinette Dupain-Cheng smiled as did her lips. She was happy enough to let someone else have their chance with a hot model she had been admiring over for at least a few years.


End file.
